Cruise cabin-inside or balcony?

[Disneyland1084]

honestly, an inside is just fine.

I don't doubt that at all. I have a neighbor that goes on cruises a lot and only gets inside rooms. She doesn't feel the need to spend money on upgrades since she's hardly ever in her room. I've seen some YouTube videos of inside rooms that look pretty cozy.

 

[cvjw]

We have sailed in inside, ocean view and balcony cabins. I would pick an inside cabin if it was the only way to get on the ship. We prefer a balcony cabin, but are ok with an ocean view. The ocean view cabins we have had on DCL have been larger than our balcony cabins.

Just a note - our last balcony was unusable due to the screaming kids on either side, so enjoying your balcony isn’t a guarantee. When we book an ocean view cabin, we enjoy the deck area by currents on deck 13.

 

[Disneyland1084]

Theres a lot of one-upmanship and people showing off, when really we are all on the same ship, going to the same restaurants and ports.

Wow, seriously? I can't stand people like that.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Whelp, I guess I am an outlier as we got a lovely balcony on our cruise but it completely freaked me out at night, wayyyyy too much darkness.

 

[mjkacmom]

Balconies are one of my favorite things about cruising, and with young children it’s a must. Cabins are so tiny and balconies are a great places to chill when kids are sleeping. Our youngest were 4 on our first family cruise.

 

[kymom99]

THIS is my dream. To me, there would be nothing more relaxing than watching the ocean go by while sitting with my feet up. I've got to ask you, what's the balcony like when it's completely dark outside? I saw a YouTube video of it, and it was both creepy and fascinating. Something I would love.

 

[HopperFan]

I'll go backwards as I haven't cruised since COVID - but am booked for next May.

COVID was the final straw - those folks stuck on ships in their cabins for way too long. NO WAY I will ever be in windowless room, and I would be hard pressed to do anything other than balcony. It gives us sunshine, fresh air, the ability to be outside and the wall of glass makes the cabin look SO MUCH BIGGER! Add to that a hump cabin and your balcony is almost double in size. That means they bring us more furniture. Everything I book on any trip going forward will be impacted by what we went through in COVID. Honestly I thought post COVID I would never cruise again. I didn't want to be trapped on a ship. But I do have to consider if there is ever an issue, I want access to outside.

Our first cruise we did Balcony Guarantee because the price was good and what did we know about location. We ended up with a great deck/location and we loved the glass wall. DH said at that point balcony only and he isn't bothered by the non-window like I am.

Next cruise we booked Promenade View which gave us a huge bay window and window seat looking out to the Promenade. It was just DD and I and we were connected to SIL & Cousin. We'd leave door open most the time so it felt like a suite. We didn't feel closed in with the window but since so many of us we didn't spend much time in cabin at all. Rest of our party had indoor cabins and it was claustrophobic. No way for me.

Rest of our cruises have been Hump Balconies and I really don't want to get anything else, maybe try a giant AFT balcony one time. We love breakfast or drinks on the balcony, my DS likes to sit out there and just chill with music or books, if facing right way it's GREAT for sail away. I've gotten up very early to watch the lights as we pull in to some ports and it's just beautiful.

Next cruise we have 3 cabins with balconies ~ one Hump Ocean Balcony, one Ocean balcony a few doors down and one is across the hall in a Central Park Balcony - still outside but facing the interior garden of ship. That balcony was a change we made from an Inside during a sale which ended up being less than Inside.

We cruise the bigger ships which have TONS of balcony cabins and therefore the cost difference to inside is not that much. I'd rather save and wait a few months to have a balcony.

 

[Karin1984]

Inside cabins are great for sleeping, as they get completely dark.

I did Alaska in an inside cabin and people say about scenic destinations, like Alaska or Norway: A balcony is a must!
Yeah, it would be nice, but those were crazy expensive. I can do 2 cruises inside for the price of 1 balcony.

I never had a balcony, so I don't know what I am missing... but yeah, I was fine with getting dressed (or at least put on shoes) and go to deck to enjoy the views.

 

[Darcy03231]

We've sailed in an inside, ocean view, balcony, aft-balcony, and a suite. Prior to covid, I would have said I'd take an inside and cruise more often, but since then I wouldn't sail without a balcony. If we should get sick on the ship and be confined to our room, I would want the balcony to have fresh air/natural light.

 

[kdonnel]

I have sailed inside, outside, and balcony.

I prefer balcony, outside, inside but if the choice was inside or no cruise I would definitely pick inside.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

i think the only pro to inside is price, honestly.

I never believed the old yarn about those being seasick turning green because I've been at sea countless numbers of times and never seen anyone turn green. Then I went on a cruise. Around dinner time, a storm was coming in and the ship started to rock a bit. My wife needed a seasick pill right then and I took one just before bed as a precaution. By bed time, we were sailing through it. I guess the cruise ship rocked in exactly the right way to do it because when we all woke up the next morning, everyone with an outside cabin was green!!!!.

Personally, we're in our cabin to sleep and that's it. A balcony is nice and all but one has to look at the opportunity cost of the extra expense. We can usually get an extra trip for the price difference.

 

[tvguy]

My wife insists on at least an ocean view. Never done an inside. Had a balcony once, a free upgrade on our Disney cruise, and paid for a balcony on a Celebrity Pacific coast cruise. Only got the balcony on Celebrity because it was only $25 more on a seven day cruise. We did an Alaska cruise with just an ocean view and our friends on that cruise had a balcony. They used their balcony like twice With an Alaska cruise, you're likely going to be on the upper decks outside most of the time, so not sure a balcony is worth the cost there. The scenery in Alaska is 360 degrees so even with a balcony you're going to miss half the view, which is why folks hang out on the upper decks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Balcony for us. We just got back from a cruise in July and heavily used our balcony. The cruise I went on as a teen I had a balcony as well. The only time I'd be fine (edited: corrected word) with not having a balcony is cold cruises like the Arctic and Antarctica; maybe depending on the season Iceland or Greenland but we'd want a large enough window, small portholes ehh not really enough.

We're like this with beach vacations where the view and balcony (or patio if on first level) are really important to us.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Inside cabins are great for sleeping, as they get completely dark.

Not really. Yes you're right it gets dark but that can actually cause a lot of problems for sleepers. We usually need the ability to see light to help our bodies adjust to nighttime and daytime. At least these days more cruises are putting in digital displays (either portholes or camera views of the outside) which can help out. You'll find a good amount of reviews where people ended up having trouble sleeping because it was just too dark.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

THIS is my dream. To me, there would be nothing more relaxing than watching the ocean go by while sitting with my feet up. I've got to ask you, what's the balcony like when it's completely dark outside? I saw a YouTube video of it, and it was both creepy and fascinating. Something I would love.

Not the quoted poster but thought I'd give our experience


This was our view eating breakfast in Kotor, Montenegro we just loved it



As far as nighttime we actually spent time out on our balcony at night listening to the ocean (or for my husband sometimes an audio book or a podcast with his earbuds) and I read on my kindle. We looked up at the stars as well. It was a very nice way to end the evening.

 

[QueenIsabella]

We're definitely balcony people. We like the extra space, and having a private place to enjoy the view. We did one Disney cruise with a balcony, and had planned (ha!) to do a Baltic cruise with aft cabins in 2020. Sigh! Our next big trip will likely be a cruise--either Alaska or Iceland, and balconies aren't even up for debate for us. Luckily, we can afford it--we're not the type to spend on drinks packages, spa treatments, or the extra, fancy restaurants. So, the balconies are the only splurge.

 

[tvguy]

Not really. Yes you're right it gets dark but that can actually cause a lot of problems for sleepers. We usually need the ability to see light to help our bodies adjust to nighttime and daytime. At least these days more cruises are putting in digital displays (either portholes or camera views of the outside) which can help out. You'll find a good amount of reviews where people ended up having trouble sleeping because it was just too dark.

I think another huge factor is the individual. I worked graveyard shift for 25 years and slept 9 am to 5 pm all those years. As a consequence I can sleep in any light situation (our bedroom had blackout curtains) and most noise situations. Even slept through a new roof being put on my house.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think another huge factor is the individual.

Well I think that goes without saying. However, I was responding to the generalized comment that it's great for sleeping. When it comes to cruises an inside cabin may net you a worse sleep under the conditions.

I worked graveyard shift for 25 years and slept 9 am to 5 pm all those years. As a consequence I can sleep in any light situation (our bedroom had blackout curtains) and most noise situations. Even slept through a new roof being put on my house.

That said the chances of someone being a graveyard shift worker on a cruise is not one someone could reasonably say is high likelihood. More or less don't go in thinking an inside cabin will net you a great sleep unless you know you can sleep under the conditions of no natural light for days. Blockout curtains are not the same as total darkness. I slept in a hotel room that had 3 beds but with 1 bed was inside a room with absolutely no light but a lamp. It is def. a different experience than when you have curtains that block out the light.

 

[tvguy]

Well I think that goes without saying. However, I was responding to the generalized comment that it's great for sleeping. When it comes to cruises an inside cabin may net you a worse sleep under the conditions.


That said the chances of someone being a graveyard shift worker on a cruise is not one someone could reasonably say is high likelihood. More or less don't go in thinking an inside cabin will net you a great sleep unless you know you can sleep under the conditions of no natural light for days. Blockout curtains are not the same as total darkness. I slept in a hotel room that had 3 beds but with 1 bed was inside a room with absolutely no light but a lamp. It is def. a different experience than when you have curtains that block out the light.

According to Google 18 to 26 percent of all workers are shift workers. So there are bound to be some on a cruise. And certainly the case with crewmembers. One ship I was on we went through a crew section to get to tenders and there was a big sign asking people to be quiet because it was a section where day sleepers had their crew quarters.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

According to Google 18 to 26 percent of all workers are shift workers. So there are bound to be some on a cruise. And certainly the case with crewmembers. One ship I was on we went through a crew section to get to tenders and there was a big sign asking people to be quiet because it was a section where day sleepers had their crew quarters.

okay tvguy